The Kenneth W. Royal Memorial Scholarship is to be given annually to a former CLCE student. The first recipient Kaitlyn Auger and her mother Natalie Auger stand by the legacy brick display.

The Kenneth W. Royal Memorial Scholarship is to be given annually to a former CLCE student. The first recipient Kaitlyn Auger and her mother Natalie Auger stand by the legacy brick display.

Photo: Clear Lake City

Image 3 of 3

Clear Lake City Elementary School celebrates 50th anniversary

1 / 3

Back to Gallery

A crowd of students, staff and alumni of Clear Lake City Elementary School gathered outside the front doors on Friday, May 22, to celebrate the campus' 50th anniversary.

Principal Jepsey Kimble led the festivities with entertainment provided by the Clear Lake City Elementary fourth-grade choir and Thunderbird Spirit Squad.

"Twenty-five years ago, our school had a totem pole sculpted to celebrate our silver anniversary," Kimble explained to the audience, "That totem pole still stands proudly today on the playground used by our younger students, on the Fairwind Road side of our building.

"As we reached the half-century mark we commissioned another totem pole and a series of sculptures designed to reflect who we are: our character, our history and our future."

Designed and made by Russell Ramirez, the new sculptures will serve as another daily reminder of the importance of the school's Six Pillars of Character. They include: Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring and Citizenship.

They also represent the six schools in the Clear Lake City Elementary School's pre-K-12 community: the elementary schools created from the area's continued growth and the two intermediate schools and the one high school that CLCE Thunderbirds will attend.

The audience was invited to place their fingerprints on the center totem pole as part of the sculpture garden.

Superintendent Greg Smith helped mark the golden anniversary and announced that May 22, 2015 was proclaimed as Clear Lake City Elementary Day in Houston by Houston Mayor Annise Parker.

The campus is selling legacy bricks to fund an annual scholarship, the first of which was awarded to Kaitlyn Auger Class of 2015 at Clear Lake High School.

First-graders savebaby bird after storm

St. Thomas the Apostle Episcopal School first-graders found three baby birds blown from their nest after the most recent storm.

They said that thunderstorm and lightning scare them, and they wondered how birds survived all the rain and noise.

"On our playground, we found two baby birds that had fallen from their nest," the pupils wrote. "They did not survive.

"Then one person heard a tiny cheep and discovered a frightened little survivor on the ground under a tree. We went on a hunt for something soft and warm to keep the baby bird safe.

"We found moss and a sand pail to make a new nest for our rescued friend. We named her Angel Elizabeth."

After staying in the first-grade room for the afternoon, the surviving baby bird was taken by a school staff member to a bird rescue shelter to be nursed and to eventually be released to the wild.

St. Thomas the Apostle Episcopal School is located at 18300 Upper Bay Road in Nassau Bay.